X-ray and Radio Variability of M31*, The Andromeda Galaxy Nuclear Supermassive Black Hole
Michael R. Garcia, Richard Hextall, Frederick K. Baganoff, Jose Galache, Fulvio Melia, Stephen S. Murray, Frank A. Primini, Lorant O. Sjouwerman, Ben Williams
We confirm our earlier tentative detection of M31* in X-rays and measure its light-curve and spectrum. Observations in 2004-2005 find M31* rather quiescent in the X-ray and radio. However, X-ray observations in 2006-2007 and radio observations in 2002 show M31* to be highly variable at times. A separate variable X-ray source is found near P1, the brighter of the two optical nuclei. The apparent angular Bondi radius of M31* is the largest of any black hole, and large enough to be well resolved with Chandra. The diffuse emission within this Bondi radius is found to have an X-ray temperature ~0.3 keV and density 0.1 cm-3, indistinguishable from the hot gas in the surrounding regions of the bulge given the statistics allowed by the current observations. The X-ray source at the location of M31* is consistent with a point source and a power law spectrum with energy slope 0.9+/-0.2. Our identification of this X-ray source with M31* is based solely on positional coincidence.
It is shown that the relativistic jets associated with the growth and past activity of the supermassive black hole in the Andromeda galaxy could be the main source of cosmic rays with energies above $10^{15}$ eV. Most of the cosmic ray energy is related to a bow shock of the jet that produces multi-PeV cosmic rays with light composition. The highest energy cosmic rays with heavy composition are produced in the jet itself. The spectra of energetic particles produced in Andromeda galaxy and propagated to the Earth are calculated and compared with observations.
We report the discovery of fast variability of gamma-ray flares from blazar OJ 287. This blazar is known to be powered by binary system of supermassive black holes. The observed variability time scale T_var < 3-10 hr is much shorter than the light crossing time of more massive (1.8x10^10 solar masses) black hole and is comparable to the light crossing time of the less massive (1.3x10^8 solar masses) black hole. This indicates that gamma-ray emission is produced by relativistic jet ejected by the black hole of smaller mass. Detection of gamma rays s with energies in excess of 10 GeV during the …
Graham et al. (2015) discovered a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) candidate and identified the detected 5.2 yr period of the optical variability as the orbital period of the binary. Hydrodynamical simulations predict multiple periodic components for the variability of SMBHBs, thus raising the possibility that the true period of the binary is different from 5.2 yr. We analyse the periodogram of PG1302 and find no compelling evidence for additional peaks. We derive upper limits on any additional periodic modulations in the available data, by modeling the light-curve as the sum of red nois…
We study the structure of accretion disks around supermassive black holes in the radial range $30\sim 100$ gravitational radii, using a three dimensional radiation magneto-hydrodynamic simulation. For typical conditions in this region of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), the Rosseland mean opacity is expected to be larger than the electron scattering value. We show that the iron opacity bump causes the disk to be convective unstable. Turbulence generated by convection puffs up the disk due to additional turbulent pressure support and enhances the local angular momentum transport. This also results…
The photometric light curve of PG1302-102 shows periodic variability which makes this object one of the most plausible supermassive black hole binary candidate. Interestingly, the most recent study of its updated optical light curve reports a decrease in significance of periodicity which may suggest that the binary model is less favorable. Here, we model the PG 1302-102 light curve, spanning almost 20 years, with a supermassive black hole binary system in which a perturbation in the accretion disk of more massive component is present. Our model reproduces well the observed light curve with a s…
The fast variability of energetic TeV photons from the center of M87 has been detected, offering a new clue to estimate spins of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We extend the study of Wang et al. (2008) by including all of general relativistic effects. We numerically solve the full set of relativistic hydrodynamical equations of the radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs) and then obtain the radiation fields around the black hole. The optical depth of the radiation fields to TeV photons due to pair productions are calculated in the Kerr metric. We find that the optical depth strongly…
A supermassive black hole under the radar: Repeating X-ray variability in a Seyfert galaxy
Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”（罗马托尔维加塔大学）；INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma（罗马天文台（意大利国家天体物理研究所））；Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”（罗马第一大学）；Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA（西班牙国家研究委员会-国家航空航天技术研究所天体生物学中心）；INFN – Roma Tor Vergata（罗马托尔维加塔国立核物理研究所）
In this paper we compile the analysis of ~ 200 synchrotron flare events from ~ 90 distinct objects/events for which the distance is well established, and hence the peak luminosity can be accurately estimated. For each event we measure this peak and compare it to the rise and decay timescales, as fit by exponential functions, which allows us in turn to estimate a minimum brightness temperature for all the events. The astrophysical objects from which the flares originate vary from flare stars to supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei, and include both repeating phenomena and single c…
Here we confirm the short periodic variability of a subparsec supermassive binary black hole (SMBBH) candidate Mrk 231 in the extended optical photometric data set collected by the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) and All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). Using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram and 2DHybrid method, we detected the significant periodicity of ~ 1.1 yr beyond a damped random walk model in the CRTS+ASAS-SN optical data set. Mrk 231 has been previously proposed as a SMBBH candidate with a highly unequal mass ratio (q~ 0.03), very tight mutual separation of ~590 AU…
Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) is the variable radio, near-infrared (NIR), and X-ray source associated with accretion onto the Galactic center black hole. We present an analysis of the most comprehensive NIR variability dataset of Sgr A* to date: eight 24-hour epochs of continuous monitoring of Sgr A* at 4.5 $μ$m with the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope, 93 epochs of 2.18 $μ$m data from Naos Conica at the Very Large Telescope, and 30 epochs of 2.12 $μ$m data from the NIRC2 camera at the Keck Observatory, in total 94,929 measurements. A new approximate Bayesian computation method for fi…
We study the X-ray variability properties of distant AGNs in the Chandra Deep Field-South region over 17 years, up to $z\sim 4$, and compare them with those predicted by models based on local samples. We use the results of Monte Carlo simulations to account for the biases introduced by the discontinuous sampling and the low-count regime. We confirm that variability is an ubiquitous property of AGNs, with no clear dependence on the density of the environment. The variability properties of high-z AGNs, over different temporal timescales, are most consistent with a Power Spectral Density (PSD) de…
Quasars have long been known to be variable sources at all wavelengths. Their optical variability is stochastic, can be due to a variety of physical mechanisms, and is well-described statistically in terms of a damped random walk model. The recent availability of large collections of astronomical time series of flux measurements (light curves) offers new data sets for a systematic exploration of quasar variability. Here we report on the detection of a strong, smooth periodic signal in the optical variability of the quasar PG 1302-102 with a mean observed period of 1,884 $\pm$ 88 days. It was i…
Graham et al. (2015a) reported a periodically varying quasar and supermassive black hole binary candidate, PG1302-102 (hereafter PG1302), which was discovered in the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS). Its combined Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) and CRTS optical light curve is well fitted to a sinusoid of an observed period of $\approx 1,884$ days and well modeled by the relativistic Doppler boosting of the secondary mini-disk (D'Orazio et al. 2015). However, the LINEAR+CRTS light curve from MJD $\approx 52700$ to MJD $\approx 56400$ covers only $\sim 2$ cycles of period…
Jet variability in small mass ratio supermassive black hole binaries
Center for AstroPhysical Surveys, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校国家超级计算应用中心天体物理调查中心）；Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation & School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology（罗切斯特理工学院相对论与引力计算中心及物理与天文学院）
We investigate the variability properties of blazars in the GeV band using the data of the Fermi/LAT telescope. We find that blazars exhibit variability on the scales down to the minimal timescale resolvable by Fermi, which is a function of the peak photon count rate in the LAT. This implies that the real minimal variability timescales for the majority of blazars are typically shorter than those resolvable by the LAT. We find that for several blazars these minimal variability timescales reach those associated to the blazar central engine, the supermassive black hole. At the same time, none of …
The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from January-August 2022, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasi-periodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands, however we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for a typical AGN. The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flare…
Accretion disks around supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei produce continuum radiation at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. Physical processes in the accretion flow lead to stochastic variability of this emission on a wide range of timescales. We measure the optical continuum variability observed in 67 active galactic nuclei and the characteristic timescale at which the variability power spectrum flattens. We find a correlation between this timescale and the black hole mass, extending over the entire mass range of supermassive black holes. This timescale is consistent with th…
Graham et al. (2015) have detected a 5.2 year periodic optical variability of the quasar PG 1302-102 at redshift $z=0.3$, which they interpret as the redshifted orbital period $(1+z)t_{\rm bin}$ of a putative supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). Here we consider the implications of a $3-8$ times shorter orbital period, suggested by hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs (CBDs) with nearly equal--mass SMBHBs ($q\equiv M_2/M_1\gtrsim 0.3$). With the corresponding $2-4$ times tighter binary separation, PG 1302 would be undergoing gravitational wave dominated inspiral, and serve as a …
We present a new type of observation relating the gravitational wave emission of supermassive black hole mergers to their electromagnetic counterparts. This dual emission involves variability of a relativistic jet arising from the spin-orbit precession of the supermassive black hole binary at its base.
We present a systematic search for periodically varying quasar and supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) candidates in the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. From $\sim9,000$ color-selected quasars in a $\sim50$ deg$^{2}$ sky area, we initially identify $26$ candidates with more than $1.5$ cycles of variation. We extend the baseline of observations via our imaging campaign with the Discovery Channel Telescope and the Las Cumbres Observatory network and reevaluate the candidates using a more rigorous, maximum likelihood method. Using a range of statistical criteria and assuming the Damped Random …
We use long-run, high-resolution hydrodynamics simulations to compute the multi-wavelength light curves (LCs) from thermal disk emission around accreting equal-mass supermassive black hole (BH) binaries, with a focus on revealing binary eccentricity. LCs are obtained by modeling the disk thermodynamics with an adiabatic equation of state, a local blackbody cooling prescription, and corrections to approximate the effects of radiation pressure. We find that modulation of multi-band LCs on the orbital time scale are generally in-phase (to within $\sim\,$2% of a binary orbital period), but they co…
Theory predicts that a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) could be observed as a luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN) that periodically varies on the order of its orbital timescale. In X-rays, periodic variations could be caused by mechanisms including relativistic Doppler boosting and shocks. Here we present the first systematic search for periodic AGNs using $941$ hard X-ray light curves (14-195 keV) from the first 105 months of the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) survey (2004-2013). We do not find evidence for periodic AGNs in Swift-BAT, including the previously reported SMBHB candi…
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) should be an inevitable consequence of the hierarchical growth of massive galaxies through mergers, and the strongest sirens of gravitational waves (GWs) in the cosmos. And yet, their direct detection has remained elusive due to the compact (sub-parsec) orbital separations of gravitationally bound SMBHBs. Here we exploit a theoretically predicted signature of a SMBHB in the time domain: periodic variability caused by a mass accretion rate that is modulated by the binary's orbital motion. We report our first significant periodically varying quasar detec…
Binary supermassive black holes (BSBHs) are expected to be a generic byproduct from hierarchical galaxy formation. The final coalescence of BSBHs is thought to be the loudest gravitational wave (GW) siren, yet no confirmed BSBH is known in the GW-dominated regime. While periodic quasars have been proposed as BSBH candidates, the physical origin of the periodicity has been largely uncertain. Here we report discovery of a periodicity (P=1607$\pm$7 days) at 99.95% significance (with a global p-value of ~$10^{-3}$ accounting for the look elsewhere effect) in the optical light curves of a redshift …
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers and should form frequently in galactic nuclei. Sub-parsec binaries can be identified from their bright electromagnetic emission, e.g., Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with Doppler shifted broad emission lines or AGN with periodic variability, as well as from the emission of strong gravitational radiation. The most massive binaries (with total mass >10^8 M_sol) emit in the nanohertz band and are targeted by Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs). Here we examine the synergy between electromagnetic and gravitational wave signatu…
Nonthermal hotspot orbiting the supermassive black hole Sgr A*
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学天文研究所）；Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica（墨西哥国家天文学、光学和电子学研究所）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学李政道研究所）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学物理与天文学院）
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) at sub-parsec separations should be common in galactic nuclei, as a result of frequent galaxy mergers. Hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs predict strong periodic modulation of the mass accretion rate on time-scales comparable to the orbital period of the binary. As a result, SMBHBs may be recognized by the periodic modulation of their brightness. We conducted a statistical search for periodic variability in a sample of 35,383 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the photometric database of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We analyse…
The central engines of disc-accreting stellar-mass black holes appear to be scaled down versions of the supermassive black holes that power active galactic nuclei. However, if the physics of accretion is universal, it should also be possible to extend this scaling to other types of accreting systems, irrespective of accretor mass, size, or type. We examine new observations, obtained with Kepler/K2 and ULTRACAM, regarding accreting white dwarfs and young stellar objects. Every object in the sample displays the same linear correlation between the brightness of the source and its amplitude of var…
[Abridged] The central field of the Andromeda galaxy (M 31) has been monitored, using the Chandra HRC-I detector (about 0.1-10 keV energy range) from 2006 to 2012 with the main aim to detect X-rays from optical novae. We present a systematic analysis of all X-ray sources found in the 41 nova monitoring observations, along with 23 M 31 central field HRC-I observations available from the Chandra data archive starting in December 1999. Based on these observations, we studied the X-ray long-term variability of the source population and especially of X-ray binaries in M 31. We created a catalogue o…
We investigate the dichotomy between jetted and non-jetted Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), focusing on the fundamental differences of these two classes in the accretion physics onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Our aim is to study and constrain the structure, kinematics and physical state of the nuclear environment in the Broad Line Radio Galaxy (BLRG) PKS 2251+11. The high X-ray luminosity and the relative proximity make such AGN an ideal candidate for a detailed analysis of the accretion regions in radio galaxies. We performed a spectral and timing analysis of a $\sim$64 ks obs…
Hierarchical assembly models predict a population of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. These are not resolvable by direct imaging but may be detectable via periodic variability (or nanohertz frequency gravitational waves). Following our detection of a 5.2 year periodic signal in the quasar PG 1302-102 (Graham et al. 2015), we present a novel analysis of the optical variability of 243,500 known spectroscopically confirmed quasars using data from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) to look for close (< 0.1 pc) SMBH systems. Looking for a strong Keplerian periodic signal with at…
We searched for a short-term X-ray variability of the M87 core and jet from archival X-ray data with long exposure data taken by the Suzaku, Chandra, and NuSTAR telescopes. We found the intraday variability for the Suzaku data obtained in 2006, and for the Chandra core obtained in 2017. The intraday variability suggested a minute emission region of about the size of Schwartzshild radius of the M87 supermassive black hole. Suzaku could not resolve a core and HST-1; however, in 2006, HST-1 was much brighter than the core, and thus, the variability is likely due to the HST-1. Since the photon ind…
We have assembled the historical light curves of the BL Lac Object 3FGL J0449.4-4350 at optical and gamma-ray bands, the time spanning about 10 years, analyzed the periodic variability of the light curves by using four different methods (Lomb-Scargle periodogram, REDFIT38, Jurkevich and DACF). We detected a marginally possible quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) of ~450 days. Assuming it originates from the helical motion jet in a supermassive binary black hole (SMBBH) system undergoing major merger, we estimate the primary black hole mass M~7.7*10^{9} M_sun. To explore the origin of the gamma-ra…
Context. Observations of the effect of microlensing in gravitationally lensed quasars could potentially be used to study the structure of the source on distance scales down to the size of the supermassive black hole powering the quasar activity. Aims. We search for the microlensing effect in the gamma-ray band using the signal from a gravitationally lensed blazar B0218+357. Methonds. We develop a method of deconvolution of contributions of two images of the source into the gamma-ray band flaring lightcurve. We use this method to study the evolution of the magnification factor ratio between the…
Blazars show variability on timescales ranging from minutes to years, the former being comparable to and in some cases even shorter than the light-crossing time of the central black hole. The observed gamma-ray lightcurves can be described by a power-law power density spectrum (PDS), with a similar index for both BL Lacs and flat-spectrum radio quasars. We show that this variability can be produced by turbulence in relativistic jets launched by magnetically arrested accretion flows (MADs). We perform radiative transport calculations on the turbulent, highly-magnetized jet launching region of a…
M87 has been identified as a displaced supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidate. We investigated this possibility by a temporal analysis of twelve Adaptive-Optics assisted-VLT and HST images spanning twenty years. We found that the centre of the isophotal fitting to the nuclear region of M87 -assumed to mark the centre of mass of the galaxy- changes location depending on the image and size of the image analysed. In an absolute frame of reference, the change varies from 15 to 130 miliarcseconds (mas) with respect to the active galactic nucleus (AGN), which remains stable within an uncertainty o…
We have recently demonstrated that the non-linear relation between ultraviolet and X-ray luminosity in quasars is very tight (with an intrinsic dispersion of ~0.2 dex), once contaminants (e.g. dust reddening, X-ray absorption), variability, and differences in the active galactic nuclei (AGN) physical properties are taken into account. This relation has thus the great potential to advance our understanding in both supermassive black hole accretion physics and observational cosmology, by targeting a single class of objects. Here we focus on the various contributions to the observed X-ray variabi…
We present the results of 2D, moving-mesh, viscous hydrodynamical simulations of an accretion disc around a merging supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). The simulation is pseudo-Newtonian, with the BHs modeled as point masses with a Paczynski-Wiita potential, and includes viscous heating, shock heating, and radiative cooling. We follow the gravitational inspiral of an equal-mass binary with a component mass M_bh=10^6 M_sun from an initial separation of 60r_g (where r_g=GM_bh/c^2 is the gravitational radius) to the merger. We find that a central, low-density cavity forms around the binary, a…
A precessing jet from a supermassive black hole: multi-wavelength observations of S5 1044+71
Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie（巴黎西岱大学，法国国家科学研究中心，粒子与宇宙学）；Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale（天体物理研究所）；ZAH Landessternwarte, Universität Heidelberg（海德堡大学天文台）；Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik（马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所）；ICRANet-Armenia（ICRANet亚美尼亚）
Gravitational lensing of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can provide an opportunity to probe the massive compact objects in the universe at different redshifts. We have discovered two consecutive pulses in the light curve of GRB 090717034, with the same temporal profile and different count rate, separated by a time interval, which is identified as gravitationally lensed candidate in Fermi/GBM GRB catalogue \citep{Kalantari}. Here, we use the $χ^2$ method to investigate the similarity of the temporal profile variability of the two pulses as a gravitationally lensed candidate GRB. We find the magnificat…
High energy emission from blazars is thought to arise in a relativistic jet launched by a supermassive black hole. The emission site must be far from the hole and the jet relativistic, in order to avoid absorption of the photons. In extreme cases, rapid variability of the emission suggests that structures of length-scale smaller than the gravitational radius of the central black hole are imprinted on the jet as it is launched, and modulate the radiation released after it has been accelerated to high Lorentz factor. We propose a mechanism which can account for the acceleration of the jet, and f…
The recent discovery of a roughly simultaneous periodic variability in the light curves of the BL Lac object PG 1553+113 at several electromagnetic bands represents the first case of such odd behavior reported in the literature. Motivated by this, we analyzed 15 GHz interferometric maps of the parsec-scale radio jet of PG 1553+113 to verify the presence of a possible counterpart of this periodic variability. We used the Cross-Entropy statistical technique to obtain the structural parameters of the Gaussian components present in the radio maps of this source. We kinematically identified seven j…
General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of accretion disks and jets associated with supermassive black holes show variability on a wide range of timescales. On timescales comparable to or longer than the gravitational timescale $t_G=GM/c^3$, variation may be dominated by orbital dynamics of the inhomogeneous accretion flow. Turbulent evolution within the accretion disk is expected on timescales comparable to the orbital period, typically an order of magnitude larger than $t_G$. For Sgr A*, $t_G$ is much shorter than the typical duration of a VLBI experiment, enabling us to…
Characterizing the origins of gamma-ray variability of the jetted active galactic nuclei observed with the Fermi-LAT
Qujing Normal University（曲靖师范学院）；Nanjing University（南京大学）；Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；Anqing Normal University（安庆师范大学）；Kunming University（昆明学院）
